INMA honoured two volunteers today for their lifetime service to the news industry and to the association in ceremonies in New York: Pit Gottschalk of Fever Pit’ch in Germany and Sandy Naudé of Independent Media in South Africa.

Silver Shovel Awards were presented to Gottschalk and Naudé as part of the closing dinner of the 89th-Annual INMA World Congress of News Media in front of 400 media executives in Times Square’s Edison Ballroom, including 30+ peers from Germany and South Africa, respectively. Given since 1949, the Silver Shovel Award has been presented annually by INMA for lifetime achievement and recognition for outstanding work volunteering for INMA.

Pit Gottschalk, chief editor and founder of Fever Pit’ch, was one of two awarded the Silver Shovel for his work helping grow INMA in Germany.

An INMA member since 2010, Gottschalk today is chief editor and founder of Fever Pit’ch, a newsletter dedicated to football coverage. He previously worked for Axel Springer for 21 years heading up the CEO’s office and as an editor and journalist for Sport Bild, Die Welt, and Welt am Sonntag. He later became an editor-in-chief for all sports coverage for Funke Media Group’s titles.

Joining the INMA Board of Directors in 2011, Gottschalk became a driving force behind membership growth and engagement for INMA in Germany, the fastest-growing membership market for the association. He also was central to the expansion of INMA over the past five years as the association modernised its image, upgraded its technology infrastructure, and diversified its focus.

Sandy Naudé, CEO of African Community Media for Cape Town-based Independent Media, was one of two awarded the Silver Shovel award for helping expand INMA in Africa.

As CEO of African Community Media for Cape Town-based Independent Media, Naudé oversees a group of 19 niche print and digital publications published in South Africa. She commenced a career in media after teaching and has held several management positions with Unicorn Publishing, Media24, and South Africa Associated Newspapers.

A member of INMA since 2003 who has spoken at numerous events, Naudé joined the INMA Board of Directors in 2015. She helped organise the first-ever INMA conference in South Africa in 2016 and has been a tireless advocate for the association in South African media as well as sub-Saharan Africa.